


To Tell You the Truth

by VeraBAdler



Series: October 2019 challenges [13]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Full Consent, M/M, Truth Spells, Witch Castiel (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 14:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21017108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeraBAdler/pseuds/VeraBAdler
Summary: It's Dean and Cas's anniversary, and Rowena helps them work through some trust issues with a very special cuppa.Prompt 1: AshPrompt 2: Witch's Brew





	To Tell You the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of the 'verse from [I Can Definitely Help You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21000776).

Dean looks carefully to his left and right before stepping up to Rowena's shop, checking and rechecking that there's no one looking his way. He's not sure what would happen if a rando saw him walking through the enchanted doorway, but he figures it's best to be discreet.

The spell that conceals The Cloak of Midnight from anyone who doesn't need what the witch has no longer seems to affect him. He can always see the shop now, nestled in between the travel agent and the storefront that currently houses a falafel vendor named Ash. (Ash is a trip, and his kifta is killer, so Dean's pulling for him to stick around for a while.) Dean doesn't know if Rowena made a magical exception for him, or if the spell is still doing its job in its usual way. Because the truth is, Rowena has something that he _always_ needs – her live-in apprentice, and his boyfriend of exactly one year, Castiel.

Once he's certain he's unobserved, Dean steps through the door and straight into said boyfriend's arms.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas's deep voice rumbles in his ear. “Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary, babe,” he murmurs in reply. He pulls back just far enough for a peck on the lips. “We doin' this?”

Cas's face twists. “We don't have to. Dean, I told you--”

“I _know_ we don't have to. But I _want_ to. I want you to feel safe, honeybee. It's okay. Really.” He touches their foreheads together and looks him in the eye. “_Really_,” he breathes.

His boyfriend is still for a minute, then Dean feels him nod softly. “Okay. Thank you.” Their hug breaks, and Cas calls towards the back room. “Rowena? We're ready.”

As if she'd been awaiting her cue, the red-haired witch bustles out immediately. She's holding a teapot, and she gestures towards a small table in a corner of the store, set with two empty cups. “Have a seat, now,” she says. “Tea's on.”

She places the pot in the center of the table and Dean and Cas sit, gazing across at each other through the fragrant steam.

Rowena claps once, and every tiny everyday sound in the room comes to a halt. It feels as if even the dust motes floating in the air around them freeze in their places.

“Well met, my friends,” she intones. “We are here today, we three, of our own free will, are we not?”

“Yes, Rowena,” they murmur in response.

“An' we gather here with no malice or ill will borne towards each other, aye?”

“Yes, Rowena.”

“Dean and Castiel, do you place your trust in me, and in each other?”

“Yes, Rowena.”

She claps again, and the gentle motions of the world around them resume. “I'll be mother, then, shall I?” Without waiting for an answer, she takes up the teapot and fills their cups. There is exactly enough tea for the both of them, without so much as a drop lingering on the spout. “Drink up, boys. Remember what I told you.” She sashays out of the room.

As soon as she's gone, Cas starts to fidget. He clears his throat, and Dean knows what he's going to say, so he leans forward and joins their hands. “Cas,” he soothes. “I _want_ to.”

Cas gulps and nods.

When they'd decided to do this, Rowena had been very thorough in explaining the process, so now they move as one to pick up their cups and drain the contents. The tea is sweet and a little bit minty, and just as the witch had forewarned, it makes Dean's brain feel fuzzy and loose. He grins at his boyfriend. “Truth spell's in effect, babe. Ask me anything.”

“I feel like I've got you under interrogation,” Cas mutters ruefully. “Can you state your name for the record?” he recites, like he's a cop talking to a perp on a bad TV show.

Dean tries to laugh, but instead he feels his mouth begin to move without his volition. “Dean Michael Winchester,” he declares. It feels like the words are being pulled out of him, and it's an odd and rather shocking sensation.

Cas must see the surprise on his face, because he asks, “Are you still okay with this, Dean?”

Dean nods while the words spill out. “Yes, Cas. I'm okay with it. I trust you.”

This seems to settle something in Cas, and he presses forward with more confidence. “How do you feel about magic?” he asks.

“I think it's really cool.”

“How do you feel about having to keep magic a secret, even from your family and friends?”

“I don't like having to keep it a secret, but I understand why I need to.”

“Would you ever intentionally do anything to betray the secret”

“No, never.”

Dean expects another question right away, but Cas hesitates. The fidget is back, and his boyfriend isn't meeting his eyes. Dean takes Cas's hand again. “Ask what you wanna ask, babe. It's okay, I promise.” 

“How do you feel about me?” he grits out in response.

The answer flows out of him like tea pouring from a pot. “I love you, Cas. You're my best friend, and the best boyfriend I've ever had. I think you're amazing.” Despite the fact that they are under a strong enchantment, and it's physically impossible for either of them to lie, Dean can see that somehow Cas is still skeptical. Dean squeezes his hand and smiles. “Ask me why,” he prompts.

Cas shakes his head. “No, Dean, I can't ask you that. It's not right.”

“Ask me why I love you, honeybee. I want you to.”

A sigh, a long pause, and then, “Why do you love me?”

“I love you because you're beautiful, inside and out. I love you because you're the kindest, smartest, funniest person I've ever met. I love you because, even though people have been pushing you down your whole life, calling you a freak or a weirdo, you never closed yourself off. You never stop putting love out into the world, and I'm the luckiest guy ever that now you give some of that love to me. I love you because you're fantastic in bed. The way you do that thing with your tongue where you--”

Cas blushes furiously and clamps his hand over Dean's mouth, as a muffled snort from the other room makes it clear that they've got an audience. “Rowena!” he yells. “A little privacy?”

The witch pokes her head out of the back. “I need to make sure nothing goes wrong with the spell, don't I? I'm just keepin' ya both safe.” She attempts to school her face into an expression of innocence, but she can't entirely repress her smirk. “Anyway, I should let you boys know, there's only a few minutes left on the enchantment.”

Cas glares at her until she pulls her head back through the doorway, then turns to Dean again. “I'm done anyway. Go ahead and ask your questions.” He sits up straighter, hands in his lap, like he's steeling himself for cross-examination.

Dean smiles. “Nah, I'm good.”

“What?”

“I said I'm good. I don't have anything to ask.”

“But Dean, this is your chance. Isn't there _anything_ you want to know?”

“Well, okay, actually there is one thing. What do you _really_ think of my car?”

“She's too big, too loud, and her gas mileage is appalling. But she's beautiful, and I love her because you love her.” The stunned look on Cas's face while all of this spills out of him is priceless. “Also, I'm grateful her backseat is so roomy because I love it when you--”

It's Dean's turn to hastily cover his boyfriend's mouth. “Oookay, thank you, got it, we're done here.” Dean lets his hand drop, and they grin at each other. There's a cool shivery feeling that passes over them both as the spell finishes, and just like that, it's over.

Cas furrows his brow. “Is that really the only thing you wanted to ask me? Isn't there anything else you're worried about, about us?”

“Nope,” Dean says, popping the _p_. “Honeybee, I understand why you needed this from me. I know you've been hurt bad before, and that it's hard for you to give your trust away. And I know that the stakes are higher for you, because you've got to make sure I'll keep your and Rowena's secrets. And don't get me wrong, I worry about a lot of stuff – climate change, tax season, Sammy's dating life, that weird noise the refrigerator is making... But I don't worry about us. We're solid. I can look at the way you treat me, I can look in your pretty eyes, and I know in my heart that you love me. And now you can be _sure_ that I love you just as much. So, happy anniversary, baby.”

“Happy anniversary, beloved. And thank you.”

"Any time, Cas."

**Author's Note:**

> A rebloggable link for this fic on tumblr is [here](https://blessyourhondahurley.tumblr.com/post/188323562101/october-13-to-tell-you-the-truth).


End file.
